DELIMITAVÓN QE CONCEPTOS.

Freshwater from the aquifer-fed city supply is important to the operations of the food and beverage sector in Christchurch. The importance of this resource signals the need to efficiently use this resource within the operations of this sector. In addition, the potential of this freshwater resource as an incentive for doing business in the city is encouraging and provides a platform upon which to differentiate Christchurch city from other parts of New Zealand and the world for doing business. The potential benefits both direct and indirect from this freshwater resource can also contribute to the value adding ability of the city’s freshwater source as a marketing tool for businesses within the food and beverage sector such as breweries, further differentiating the product of these companies both locally in New Zealand and on the international market.

5.1 Importance of water

The results in Table 1 indicate that water is very important to the food and beverage sector in Christchurch and is used primarily in production, cleaning and sanitation. This demonstrates the important role of freshwater as the centrepiece to human life as well as in the delivery of key ecosystem goods and services (Falkenmark & Folke, 2003). As articulated above, groundwater ecosystems provide certain key services namely provisioning services, regulatory services, cultural services and supporting services. These ecosystem services are critical to the provision of food, energy, and nutrients inter alia. The indication of water as very important is consistent with the value placed on freshwater in the delivery of provisioning services such as the production of food and water (Griebler & Avramov, 2014) which are at the core of the operations of the food and beverage sector.

The very important rating of water from the majority of respondents (85.7%) suggest an understanding of the importance of water both directly for the daily operations of the businesses (provisioning services) and also indirectly in relation to ecosystem services that freshwater supplies. In addition to the provisioning services, freshwater also provides regulatory services in terms of water purification for the sector ensuring that the water used is of the highest quality and meets health and safety standards. The supporting services of freshwater also play a key role in soil formation which is important for upstream industries that supply raw materials to the food and beverage sector. In line with Griebler and Avramov (2014), the results from this survey illustrate

the importance of freshwater as a resource to the food and beverage sector in Christchurch in terms of the delivery of goods and services.

Moreover, with increased industrial development and globalisation, the demand for products from the provisioning services of freshwater may also increase (Hassan et al., 2005). As outlined by the CDC (2016) the food and beverage sector is important to the city’s economy and since water is important to the operations of this sector, the importance of water extends beyond the food and beverage sector to both the city and the national economy. The continued increase in demand for food and beverage products in Christchurch, driven by both the local and export market, also demonstrate the very important nature of freshwater as in input to the operations of the sector. Therefore, as outlined by Sachidananda et al. (2016) issues surrounding uncertainty of future freshwater availability coupled with increased demand for products to meet growing demand further indicate the importance of freshwater as a key provisioning service provider. This further shows the very important nature of freshwater to the food and beverage sector in Christchurch and can be argued that the economic value derived from the use of freshwater is very high. As explained by Das (2015) one way of deriving the economic value of a natural resource is through its use and benefit. In the case of the food and beverage sector in Christchurch, the freshwater resource provides significant benefits as shown in the rating of very important by the majority of respondents in Table 1, as the absence of this freshwater resource can adversely affect the operations of the businesses within the sector.

5.2 Efficiency of water use

The efficient use of this freshwater resource is vital to reducing the pressure on groundwater ecosystems as noted by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). The results show that just over half of the respondents (52%) indicated using water efficiently, with the main reasons being attributed to the concern for the environment and cost cutting measures. The proactive approach to water efficiency can positively affect the image of these food and beverage operations who are consciously undertaking water efficiency measures within their operations. This can help in increased corporate image, improved customer relations and provide some competitive advantage in the marketplace with customers gravitating towards more environmentally friendly products and businesses and products produced at a lower cost (Smith et al., 2000).

Nonetheless, the mere 52% of water efficiency efforts from respondents should also be a cause for concern. Given that freshwater is very important to the operations of the food and beverage sector in the city, using this freshwater resource with a greater level of efficiency will alleviate some of the pressures on groundwater ecosystems (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Hence, if safeguarding the resource is a priority as articulated by the CCC (2015), then water efficiency should be central to the operations of the food and beverage sector as they depend heavily on the resource for their operations. The lack of monitoring of water use levels by the majority of respondents (76%) signals the need for closer monitoring of water usage by food and beverage operators to safeguard this prestigious resource. This lack of monitoring of water usage also indicates that water efficiency is not at the core of the operations of these food and beverage operators with 48% out of the 76% indicating no incentive to use water more efficiently.

This lack of incentive to use water more efficiently because these food and beverages companies had not thought about it and most of these companies were following a set process for production indicate that these companies saw little justification to use water more efficiently as highlighted by Whitehead (2013). Moreover, the reasons provided for not having previously thought about water efficiency could be as a result of the perception that the operations of the company have minimal impact on the environment, as articulated by Smith et al. (2000). Hence, this may contribute to why some food and beverage companies have not had a more positive approach towards water efficiency and implemented appropriate approaches within the company operations to utilise water more efficiently.

Encouraging water efficiency within the food and beverage sector is important to safeguarding the freshwater resource in Christchurch. Although 52% of respondents do practice water efficiency, perhaps a greater thrust towards increasing this percentage should be encouraged. This may be achieved through various monitoring mechanisms or other incentives such as taxes. In Christchurch, the Christchurch City Council (CCC) undertakes yearly monitoring for most food and beverage operators based on a set daily water allowance based on the capital value of the property, with any excess water utilised being charged for based on an established rate. Hence, it can be argued that the rate presently being charged for excess water usage does not act as an incentive to change the behaviour of food and beverage operators to use water more efficiently and raises further questions about the rationale for setting this rate at the present level. As stated by Martin-Ortega et al. (2015) external incentives aimed at fostering a particular behaviour from

businesses must be significant enough in order to generate the desired result, which in this case is a more efficient use of this freshwater resource to preserve the resource.